The DFB Cup for U19 juniors started this weekend. Five teams from the Ruhr area are represented – now only four.

The ball is resting in the U19 Bundesliga West because the first round of the DFB Cup for juniors is on the schedule. With Schalke 04, BVB, VfL Bochum, MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen, five teams from the Ruhr area are challenged.

RWE have drawn a very difficult lot with 1. FC Köln, on Sunday (11 a.m.) the Essen team will have to go beyond themselves if they want to reach the 2nd round.

On Saturday, three teams from the Pot had to play. The BVB solved their task at Energie Cottbus with ease – after 90 minutes the score was 4:0, although Borussia Dortmund had a hard time in the first 45 minutes. But after the break, things went well. Paris Brunner scored directly one minute after the restart, Julian Rijkhoff, Michel Ludwig and Vincenzo Onofrietti increased the score for the clear favourites.

Brunner, the Dortmund U17 goal scorer, celebrated his U19 debut with a goal. In the B-Junioren Bundesliga West, he can look back on a proud 14 goals after four games, which are already dimensions in which Youssoufa Moukoko was on the road a few years ago.

BVB coach Mike Tullberg was delighted with Brunner’s performance as a substitute in the UEFA Youth League, as he explained on the club’s website, hence the reward in the cup: “He did really well and brought power to the offensive game.”

The derby in Duisburg was closer than the BVB. MSV challenged VfL Bochum. And when it already looked like extra time, Mohammed Tolba, who completed his preparation with the professionals and is now back with the U19s for the time being, scored. He scored the goal of the day for Bochum in the 84th minute.

So BVB and VfL are in the 2nd round, and on Sunday RWE and Schalke (11 a.m. at JFG Schaumberg-Prims) will try to follow suit. Incidentally, the defending champions are VfB Stuttgart, who won last year’s final against BVB with 3:1.